One of my warmest welcomes to etsy came from Pegg of fiveforty. Pegg handweaves recycled clothes and fabrics into gorgeous and lush rugs — I’ve vowed that I will own one someday and can’t wait to walk on it barefoot. [One of her wool sweater rag rugs just won gold over at the lovely rikrak’s handmade olympics (see Event 4)... woohoo, congrats!] Pegg also creates jewelry, felt cuffs, and regularly makes me drool with all her talk of baking and cooking.

1. How and when did you start weaving and jewelry-making?
I studied weaving at Sault college many moons ago. I worked in a weaving studio weaving professionally for a year, after college. I bought beads to make Christmas presents years ago and got hooked, it’s become an obsession!

2. How did you make the leap to selling your work online?
My daughter told me about Etsy, it took me a year to set up my shop so it was a slow leap.

3. Introvert or extrovert?
Introvert.

4. Tell us a little about your home, Terrace Bay.
Gorgeous tiny little town on the north shore of Lake Superior.

“…down at our local beach on Lake Superior“

5. Have you made any new year’s resolutions for 2010?
I don’t do resolutions.

6. How did you learn to be such a good cook, and what’s your signature dish?
My grandmothers and my dad were all fabulous cooks, I inherited my passion of food from them all. I don’t think I have one signature dish, I have many, it’s always changing!

7. If you had the time, what’s something you’d work at improving or learning?
I am trying to figure out an easier way to finish my denim and corduroy rugs. Weaving the ends back in, is labour intensive and drives the cost of the rug up. I would love to make them more affordable.

8. Last summer, one of your rugs was featured in Style at Home Magazine… How did that come about?
I was contacted in the late winter last year, the assistant editor  “found me” on Etsy. They asked if I would be interested in having one of my rugs featured!!

9. What is your kryptonite?
Freshly baked crusty bread, hot out of the oven with a slathering of butter. Yum!

10. What was the first concert you ever went to?
Lighthouse.

11. You seem to be very close with your family. Can you tell us a little about them?
My husband and I live with my mom and our two dogs! We have  two  children, they live away. My daughter lives and works in London. My son just left yesterday to go to work treeplanting on the West Coast.

12. Happiest kid memory?
Playing outside with my friends!

13. What’s the last movie you saw in a theatre, and did you like it?
I haven’t been to a movie in years… sadly as I love movies. Terrace doesn’t have a theatre. We recently watched Temple Grandin on HBO, wow what a fabulous, very inspiring movie. I think it is a must see! Clare Danes did a fabulous job of acting. Google Temple Grandin and read about this amazing woman, or better yet watch the movie.

14. Dream job?
Dream job.. I am doing it, I just wish that it would pay better. I always wondered what I would do when I grow up, I haven’t grown up, but feel settled with my weaving and beading.

15. You love your dogs. What are their names?
We had 6 Canadian Inuit Dogs, sadly we now only have two. Kinoje and Cali Coco Bean! They’re fabulous dogs!

16. Chocolate or vanilla?
Both.

17. What do you like best and least about being your own boss?
I can come to work in my jammies. I don’t have someone to push me to work harder and in the right direction.

18. What are you most proud of right now?
My rugs, they excite me, I love working with colour!

19. Ideal lazy Sunday?
All of my days are Sundays.

20. Finish this sentence: “I am…”
… silly, unorganized, afraid of the dark, overly sensitive and messy.

And I added a post-script 21st question because I totally forgot to include this in the original 20, but have always wanted to know…
21. Why “fiveforty”?
540 was the house number of the house I grew up in as a teenager, the house we live in now. Our town implemented 911 quite a few years ago and changed our house number, so it is purely sentimental. It will always be fiveforty in my heart, and it is where I do my work. It made sense at the moment when I wrote it as my business name on  my business license application. It is my legal business name.

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Find out more about fiveforty on her:

• etsy shop
• blog
• facebook group page
  

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Thanks for many smiles so far… and many more to come, five!

etsy.com, good peeps fiveforty, jewelry, recycled rag rugs, Terrace Bay